Ronnie Lott, Jack Reynolds (No. 64) and Archie Reese (No. 78) were key to the fourth-down stop of Pete Johnson in the third quarter of Super Bowl XVI.

Photo: Fredric Carson

Ronnie Lott, Jack Reynolds (No. 64) and Archie Reese (No. 78) were...

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Jerry Rice was named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXIII after he grabbed 11 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown against the Bengals.

Photo: Mike Powell/Allsport, Allsport

Jerry Rice was named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXIII...

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SEIFERT-29JAN1990-RINGMAN - 49'er Coach George Seifert, holding the Super Bowl trophy, in the victory parade along Market St, Jan. 29, 1990, in San Francisco, the day after the Super Bowl game. Photo by Steve Ringman

They say they're proud of the franchise's rich history but not consumed by it. That's logical. They say they want to launch a new era of championship football. That's admirable.

Still, the eras are eternally linked by those red-and-gold uniforms, "SF" helmets and fervent fans - and by the memories of what traditionally happens when the 49ers appear in the NFL's championship game.

Sunday's matchup with Baltimore marks the 49ers' return to the Super Bowl, for the first time in 18 years. The last time they were there, in January 1995, Steve Young flung touchdown passes as if they were his birthright - a record-setting six in all - in propelling San Francisco to a 49-26 rout of San Diego.

It was a fittingly dynamic way for the 49ers to pocket their fifth Super Bowl victory, momentarily pulling them ahead of Dallas for the most ever. The Cowboys matched the 49ers one year later, and then Pittsburgh - extending the legacy of its Steel Curtain teams of the 1970s - surged to titles No. 5 and No. 6 in the first decade of the 21st century.

So the outcome of Super Bowl XLVII will resonate far and wide, from the Northern California coast to the valleys of western Pennsylvania. Win and the 49ers stand even with the Steelers at six titles apiece. Lose and San Francisco remains tied with the Cowboys at five.

There's another historical nugget to consider here: The 49ers are 5-0 in the Super Bowl, an unparalleled record of success in the Game to End All Games. They are the only franchise with more than one Super Bowl win and no losses.

This carries great significance among 49ers alums.

"It would be tremendously disappointing to see that record become 5-1," said former tight end Brent Jones, a three-time Super Bowl champion. "We don't want anyone messing with our perfect record."

Jones' desire is entirely understandable, especially because other major professional team sports offer no apt analogy. The 49ers built a dynasty by NFL standards, with five titles in 14 seasons (1981 to '94), but they didn't lord over their sport the way the Yankees dominated baseball (10 World Series titles in 16 years from 1947 to '62) or the Celtics ruled the NBA (11 titles in 13 years from 1957 to '69).

What makes San Francisco's run unique is the absence of any losses in the grand finale. (For the record, the Steelers are 6-2 in the Super Bowl and the Cowboys are 5-3). The 49ers twice beat the Bengals and demolished the Dolphins, Broncos and Chargers.

Not a clunker in the bunch.

"That's a big deal," former wide receiver Dwight Clark said. "It would be a great bragging right, for 49ers fans to be able to talk all that junk: 'We've got six and we've never lost one.' "

Clark essentially started all this by making The Catch in the NFC title game on Jan. 10, 1982, sending San Francisco to its first Super Bowl appearance. More than three decades later, just mention "49ers" and "Super Bowl" and any number of images spring to mind for Bay Area sports fans (at least those, say, 40 and older).

Maybe it's the goal-line stand against the Bengals in January 1982 ... or Joe Montana carving up the Dolphins at Stanford Stadium three years later ... or Montana dramatically connecting with John Taylor to outlast the Bengals again in January 1989.

Maybe it's Jerry Rice galloping into the open field one year later - at the Superdome, notably - in the rout of Denver ... or Young and Rice eviscerating the Chargers.

Five games, five wins, average score 38-18.

"We had great players, and they were very competitive," said George Seifert, who was defensive coordinator for two of those Super Bowl champs and head coach for two more. "We all hear stories about how competitive Jim Harbaugh is - I had a whole team of those guys."

So now Harbaugh takes his turn. Sunday's winner will cradle the Lombardi Trophy and stand as champions of the 2012 NFL season - but there's even more at stake for the 49ers.

Super Bowl XXIX

Jan. 29, 1995, Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami

49ers 49, Chargers 26: Finally, it was Steve Young's time.

He waited all those years behind Joe Montana, then endured the frustration of falling to Dallas in the NFC Championship Game after the 1992 and '93 seasons. At last, Young and the 49ers conquered the Cowboys in the title game after the '94 season, to earn San Francisco's fifth Super Bowl berth.

Boy, were the 49ers ready.

They entered as prohibitive favorites (as much as 20 points, according to some oddsmakers) against the Chargers, who had won the AFC West and squeezed past the Dolphins and Steelers in the playoffs. The betting line quickly proved prophetic, as Young threw first-quarter touchdown passes of 44 yards to Jerry Rice and 51 yards to Ricky Watters.

By halftime, the lead reached 28-10. Then Watters scored on a 9-yard run, Rice corralled another touchdown pass from Young and the 49ers were in total control at 42-10.

So much for the Chargers enjoying their first trip to the Super Bowl.

Young outdid Montana in one sense, throwing six touchdown passes to nudge aside his onetime teammate in the Super Bowl record book. Young's final numbers: 24-for-36, 325 yards, six TDs, no interceptions. He also ran the ball five times for 49 yards in earning Most Valuable Player honors.

- Ron Kroichick

Super Bowl XIX

Jan. 20, 1985, Stanford Stadium

49ers 38, Dolphins 16:Dan Marino, at age 23, could fire all the laser-beam passes he wanted, but he couldn't play defense.

Neither could anyone in a Miami uniform on this day.

The 49ers completed their most dominant season - 18 wins and one measly loss (to the Steelers in October) - by dismantling the Dolphins in the only Super Bowl played in Northern California. Joe Montana threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns, as the 49ers rolled to a Super Bowl-record 537 yards in total offense.

It's easy to forget in retrospect, but San Francisco trailed 10-7 after the first quarter. Then came an avalanche of second-quarter touchdowns, three in all, as the 49ers zoomed to a 28-16 halftime lead.

That made Miami one-dimensional, forcing Marino to toss 50 passes. He threw two interceptions and was sacked four times, as the 49ers' defense - overshadowed by the offense but still rock-solid - held the Dolphins scoreless in the second half.

Running back Roger Craig had a big game for the 49ers, catching two touchdown passes and scoring another TD on the ground. He also provided one of this Super Bowl's lingering images with his knee-pumping, eye-gleaming gallop into the end zone on a 16-yard scoring catch in the fourth quarter.

Super Bowl XXIII

Joe Montana already was a two-time Super Bowl MVP - Jerry Rice, not Montana, earned the award for this game - but he cemented his "Joe Cool" legend with a dramatic, decisive, 92-yard touchdown drive.

Bengals wide receiver Cris Collinsworth understood the danger even when the 49ers took possession at their 8-yard line, trailing 16-13 with 3:10 left. One of Collinsworth's teammates spouted on the sideline, "We've got it!" To which Collinsworth replied, "No. 16 is in the huddle. It ain't over."

No, it ain't. Montana famously pointed out Candy to his teammates and then directed them downfield with customary aplomb. He completed a big, 27-yard pass to Rice and memorably connected with Taylor on the game-winning, 10-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left.

It was one of the few riveting Super Bowls to that point (at least in the second half), with neither team leading by more than a touchdown and the outcome spinning in doubt down the stretch. Rice was magnificent, with 11 catches for 215 yards.

Montana wasn't bad, either, completing 23 of 37 passes for 357 yards and two touchdowns. And he delivered in the clutch once again.

"I'm telling you, Joe Montana ain't human," Collinsworth said after the game. "He's not God, but he's definitely not human."

Super Bowl XXIV

49ers 55, Broncos 10: That transition from Bill Walsh to George Seifert worked out OK, eh?

Seifert's first Super Bowl as head coach couldn't have unfolded much better. The 49ers scored early and often, steaming to a 27-3 halftime lead that became 41-3 in the third quarter.

The 49ers set Super Bowl records for points scored and margin of victory. It was the football equivalent, 10 years ahead of its time, of Tiger Woods humiliating the field in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

And, remember, Seifert was previously the defensive coordinator.

This game is remembered more for San Francisco's offense and the way Joe Montana again carved up an overmatched opponent. Montana was supremely efficient, completing 22 of 29 passes for 297 yards and a then-Super Bowl-record five touchdowns.

Jerry Rice (seven catches, 148 yards) set another record with his three touchdown catches. John Taylor and Brent Jones also caught TD passes.

Not to be completely forgotten: The defense turned John Elway into just another quarterback. Elway (10-for-26, two interceptions) and the Broncos lost in the Super Bowl for the third time in four seasons.

The 49ers matched Pittsburgh with four Super Bowl titles and became the first team since the Steelers, in the 1978 and '79 seasons, to win the game in consecutive years.

Super Bowl XVI

Jan. 24, 1982 at Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Mich.

49ers 26, Bengals 21: Head coach Bill Walsh created the most enduring off-field image, when he dressed as a bellhop and fetched luggage as 49ers players checked into their hotel. It was a lighthearted, tension-erasing moment for an unlikely championship contender.

Another telling scene: Tight end Charle Young, who had been voted the team's most inspirational player, scrawled, "We are world champions" on the locker-room bulletin board before the game. Young then delivered an impassioned speech, making sure his fresh-faced teammates understood the opportunity before them.

"I wanted guys to know we were going to win," Young said later.

They did, after some uneasy moments. The 49ers built a 20-0 halftime lead, on Joe Montana's quarterback sneak, a short pass from Montana to Earl Cooper (punctuated by Cooper's leaping spike) and two Ray Wersching field goals. The Bengals would trim their deficit to 20-7 and threatened to score again in the third quarter.

San Francisco's defense then created the most enduring on-field image from this Super Bowl, with a stirring goal-line stand. Linebacker Dan Bunz nailed Cincinnati's Charles Alexander on a third-down swing pass, and a wall of tacklers smothered running back Pete Johnson on 4th-and-goal.

Wersching added two more field goals in the fourth quarter, helping the 49ers hold off Cincinnati to win their first Super Bowl title.